$15,000 Could Buy You Your Own Open Source Airplane

Aircraft technology usually seems so amazing that it has to be expensive, but the Maker Plane team is going to change all that. On the back of a crowdfunded open source initiative, they are designing a light sport aircraft that can fly two people. You should be able to buy it for $15,000. That's just about the same price as 3,000 cronuts.

The Maker Plane design leverages all sorts of modern technology to make it light and plausibly cheap, including composite body parts (like your very best Boeing Dreamliner) and 3-D-printed components. Other more complex parts will have to be sourced by the builders, including devices like radios and air data computers, but the tech inside the aircraft isn't dumb—it should even be possible to include an anti-collision system.

The first prototype is under construction right now, and hopefully will fly in 2015. After that point you should be able to access, for free, the plans to the plane and build your own two-seat sport number that can fly you up to 400 miles.